American Head - The Flaming Lips: Review
are an Oklahoma based psychedelic, indie and alternative rock band who have been releasing material frequently since the mid 1980's. On top of an extensive catalog of side projects, collaborations and covers albums The Flaming Lips have released 16 studio albums, including 3 in the past 4 years.
Review By Lavender:
While everybody loves classic Lips records like Yoshimi and Soft Bulletin the band has managed to avoid the pitfalls of other major indie artists late in their career and have consistently released studio albums with something to offer. Records like Embryonic and The Terror proved that the band still had creativity even while pushing 25 and 30 years of existence but even their weakest record from this period 2017's Oczy Melody had some notable highlights and stands above some of their now washed contemporaries. They have mainly achieved this by channeling all of their underwhelming and uninspired music into other projects, from lackluster covers albums to poorly thought out collaborations I would suggest sticking to the core Flaming Lips discography if you're a new listener. That is at least up until American Head a record that shows all 20 years worth of aging signs the band had been carefully dodging up to this point.
This misfire came as no surprise to fans or critics given that we had heard over half the record during the lead up to its full release and many of those singles were just as unimpressive as the deep cuts turned out to be. Flowers Of Neptune 6 was the lead single and it sounds just as lifeless here as it did when I first heard it earlier this year. The vocals are so abstracted they don't feel like anything and the instrumental is listless psychedelic blur, which also applies to the instrumental track Watching The Lightning Bugs Glow that precedes it on the record. Dinosaurs On The Mountain has some decent soundplay but sets up the records most major flaw, god awful pacing. The song spends 3 minutes working through a really arduous progression that feels like it drags on and on until I am completely bored out of my mind well before it's finished.
At The Movies On Quaaludes is another track that just feels underneath The Flaming Lips from a songwriting perspective. Even though some of the guitar work can be cool at times the weak repetitive vocal refrains really make getting through the track a slog. Assassins Of Youth has an identical problem and makes for maybe the most forgettable song on the entire record. Finally there's the closer My Religion Is You one of the many tracks on here with laugh out loud lyrics. It isn't an outright terrible song and is likely suffering from being the closing track but by this point on the album I just want it to be over with.
Speaking of lyrics a number of these tracks are only decent if you can get past some of the most awful lyrical content you'll hear on a record in 2020. I know that The Flaming Lips have never really been poets but holding back laughter across this record can be tricky. Mother I've Taken LSD is better on the instrumental front with a super tangible progression but with the awkward vocals being so present and some of the lyrics being so bad I can't say I fully enjoy the song. Same thing goes for You n Me' Sellin Weed which is at least a little bit kooky in it's redundantly silly lyricism. It has a five minute runtime and while it isn't the most boring song here I think it still could have been cut down and improved. God And The Policeman features guest vocals from Kasey Musgraves and while there isn't a lyrical problem here I just expected more from the crossover. There are a few moments of greatness in the harmonizing vocals but neither artist is near their peak.
The opening track Will You Return / When You Come Down is actually a decent start to the album. Even though the sounds here feel routine for the band there is a rich array of instrumentation that makes the instrumental passages pretty exciting. Brother Eye is one of the most interesting songs here, a lowkey cut with icy key lines and vocal manipulating. The song is fragile but its drama is infectious and I find myself strangely enamored with it. Mother Please Don't Be Sad was the only single that I really enjoyed as it combines a vivid story with a stark piano instrumental. The driving keys that kick off the hook sound great and set up for the records most memorable chorus. Each piece of the song feels different but they all come together for a compelling final product. The same applies to the instrumental track that follows it When We Die When We're High which carries over from the previous song with wiry guitar soloing and punchy percussion I can't help but enjoy.
American Head is the two decades of becoming uninspired that so many bands do in their third act, compressed down into one 50 minute project. While not every Flaming lips project is perfect this is definitely their worst in a long time, going back well past their breakout 90's records. Even the moments that shine on the record are out-done by highlights on the bands past few albums, and if they have to take some extended time off from releasing music to come back with something on par with their own standards I am fine with it. Because American Head doesn't do much for me. 4/10
